"The leaders of 25 environmental and climate action groups sent an open letter to President Barack Obama on Tuesday, urging him to reject the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and avoid any 'deal-making' with the Canadian government."

"The letter follows a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. report that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has offered to make emissions reductions in his country's oil and gas sector in exchange for U.S. approval of the Keystone XL.

'Our rationale is simple. Building Keystone XL will expand production in the tar sands, and that reality is not compatible with serious efforts to battle climate change,' wrote the leaders of 350.org, Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council and 22 other organizations."